WASHINGTON — Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the health care overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.

The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, with the support of Democrats John Kerry and the late Edward Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, which is home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ Scientist.

The measure would put Christian Science prayer treatments — which substitute for or supplement medical treatments — on the same footing as clinical medicine. While not mentioning the church by name, it would prohibit discrimination against “religious and spiritual health care.”

It would have a minor impact on the overall cost of the bill. Christian Science is a small church, and the prayer treatments can cost as little as $20 a day. But it nevertheless has stirred controversy over the constitutional separation of church and state and the possibility that other churches might seek reimbursements for so-called spiritual healing.

Phil Davis, a senior Christian Science church official, said that prayer treatment is an effective alternative to conventional health care.

“There is a connection between health care and spirituality,” said Davis, who distributed 11,000 letters last week to Senate officials urging support for the measure. “We think this is an important aspect of the solution, when you are talking about not only keeping the cost down but finding effective health care.”

The provision would apply only to insurance policies offered on a proposed insurance exchange, where consumers could shop for policies that meet standards set by the government.

Critics say the effect of the measure could be broader, conferring new status and medical legitimacy on practices that lie outside the realm of science.

Annie Laurie Gaylor, who heads the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group of atheists and agnostics who promote separation of church and state, said that the opportunity to receive payment for spiritual care could encourage other groups to seek similar status.

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